


Up To the Challenge

by LassOfTheLake



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cute, F/M, Humor, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 05:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16299209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LassOfTheLake/pseuds/LassOfTheLake
Summary: The Inquisitor issues a challenge to The Iron Bull. A drinking game gone wrong. One-Shot.





	Up To the Challenge

Evy sat next to Bull at the bar in the Herald’s Rest, happily gulping at her ale like she hadn’t had anything to drink in a week. That wasn’t true, though. Bull had already witnessed her slurp down two other ales in much the same fashion. It wasn’t often that the Inquisitor drank like this but it was always a sight to see.

The tankard slammed on the warn wood of the bar and she gave a satisfied gasp. “Another!” she called merrily. Her pale cheeks were already flushed with the alcohol and her eyes didn’t look quite as sharp as they usually did.

“Whoa, boss,” Bull chuckled next to her, setting down his own mug, “the alcohol’s not going anywhere. You should take a breather before the next one.”

Evy turned and narrowed her eyes at him, like he’d insulted. Slitted violet orbs stared him down. “Oh, yeah? Having a hard time keeping up,  _Iron Bull_?”

The challenge was clear. Bull returned her gaze steadily, bringing his tankard up to his lips and finishing off his current ale as he did so, his eyes never wavering from hers as he drank. He pushed the empty glass towards the barkeep, who took it and filled it again. “You sure you want to do this, boss?” he asked, giving her five foot nothing, twig thin ass a chance to back out.

Never one to back down, Evy’s mouth quirked up in a little grin. “Oh, yeah.”

“Krem!” Bull called, summoning his second to his side. It only took a moment for the former ‘Vint to appear at his leader’s side. “I need you to keep score. The Inquisitor here has just issued me a challenge and I intend to answer it.”

“On it, chief,” Krem replied in his Tevene accent, sitting down at the bar beside them. He nodded to Evy, “Take him down a peg, Inquisitor. And… Drink!”

Evy and Iron Bull both grabbed their mugs at the same time and began sucking down ale as if their lives depended on it. Unsurprisingly, a small crowd gathered around, watching the drinking contest with interest. It was immediately clear to all who would win, but it was like watching a dragon breath fire - you knew it was going to end in a disaster, but watching it unfold was fascinating.

Evy put up more of a fight than Bull had expected her to. Even he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol when her head dropped onto the bar after her fifth tankard in the contest (otherwise known as her eighth tankard that evening.)

“Bull,” she moaned dramatically, forehead still planted on the bar, “the whole room is spinning and I’m dying.”

“Yeah,” Bull laughed, finishing off the last bit of his seventh tankard in the contest and waving off the keep when he went to refill it. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were puking tonight either.”

She groaned again. “Don’t talk about puking.”

Bull felt a wave of affection overtake him as he looked at her. Even drunk off her ass and hunkered over the bar, she was still beautiful. He’d been attracted to her since the moment she’s appeared on the beach they were battling on at the Storm Coast. At first, he’d thought it was just the sight of a strong, gorgeous woman swinging around an ax like it was an extension of her arm turning him on, but it hadn’t escaped his notice that it went beyond the physical. When she got angry and The Inquisitor came out, he was intrigued. The way she held onto her childlike wonder and optimism made him want to be optimistic too. And when she challenged him, he wanted to fuck her against the bloody wall.

Bull carefully tucked that thought away. He was far too drunk to control any… shall we say, physical reactions to those kind of thoughts right now. “Can you make it back to your chambers?” Bull asked her, already suspecting that the answer was no.

“I’m just gonna sleep… right… here,” she said, and true to her word, she was knocked out not even a moment later.

The large Qunari clapped a hand on her shoulder and shook her, but she didn’t rouse. She groaned a little, but other than that, remained catatonic. Bull sighed. Carrying her to her room was going to put all sorts of thoughts in his head.

Krem looked a little concerned when Bull hefted her from her seat and held her to his chest so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. “Is she going to be alright, chief?” Krem asked.

Bull chuckled. “Yeah, she’ll be fine. She just got a little too big for her britches, that’s all. I’m going to take her to bed.”

Oh, he wanted to take her to bed alright. If she wasn’t dead unconscious and drunk off her ass, he’d make his offer then and there. Why he’d waited so long was beyond him now. He was certainly interested in her and she’d made no attempt to hide her attraction for him. Not wanting to complicate things seemed like a stupid, trivial reason now.

Bull made it all the way up the stairs into the castle without an issue. Luckily, at this time of night, all the annoying nobility had cleared out of the main hall and were quartered off in the guest rooms, so it was a straight shot through the throne room to her quarters.  _Why are there so many blasted stairs in this place?_ he thought to himself irritably.

It seemed like forever from the Herald’s Rest to her room. He didn’t know how she’d managed it on her own the other times she’d gotten zonked. He laid her down on her bed, a little less gently than he’d specifically meant to. He actually sort of dropped her on it, due to his own worsening state of inebriation as that last drink took effect. He pulled the boots from her feet and took off her leather coat before pulling the covers over her. Before he left, he also pulled a chamber pot over to her side of the bed. Hopefully, if she felt the need to vomit in the middle of the night, she’d spot it and be able to, er, direct the stream.

He was just about to head down the stairs and back to his room when a moan roused his attention. His horned head jerked up so quickly, the room spun. “Oh, Bull!” she exclaimed, face red, hand tightening around the sheets and large, sexy smile on her face.

The Iron Bull, leader of the Chargers, a Ben-Hassrath agent, and an insufferable smart ass was left totally gobsmacked. Evy was dreaming about him. She was calling out his name. And apparently, the dream version of him was doing some good work.

Bull quickly left the room and back to his room at the Herald’s rest when she let out a little squeal. He swore to himself that tomorrow, he’d make his offer.

_We’ll see if she’s up to a different sort of challenge_ , Bull thought to himself.


End file.
